good evening, again, dr. sanjay gupta here in new york. anderson's got the night off. tonight the lawmaker known as dr. no, senator tom coburn. he may end up single handedly saying no to thousands of 9/11 first responders. he says a bill to help them pay their medical bills is being rushed. critics say it's had plenty of time and it's the senator who's trying to run out the clock. we've got the facts, keeping them honest. also tonight the author of that how-to guide for pedophiles. he's in jail tonight. but before he went in, he spoke out, denying the charges, defending the book and declaring his right to publish it. but it's what else he said that's going to make a parent's blood run a little cold as you'll hear for yourself. and later crime and punishment, a toddler's tragic death.

investigators fail to find a culprit but years later the cold case finally heats up and justice is served. we begin as we always do, keeping them honest on something anderson has said many times we never thought we'd have to be keeping anyone honest about. providing medical care for 9/11 first responders. tonight a senator and a medical doctor i should point out, republican tom coburn of oklahoma is threatening to block legislation to pay for it. to vote, likely tomorrow, against moving it on to a final vote. and if that passes, to use senate rules to drag out debate until the session is over. today some of the estimated 36,000 police officers, firefighters and others now suffering from 9/11-related illnesses came to washington and demanded action from the white house and from congress. especially, though, from senate republicans. and senator coburn, by name. >> where's his heart? because it's not in the right place. these men and women behind me have gone eight christmases suffering without any help from the federal government. so i question his heart. this man's a doctor. he took an oath to help people.

he shouldn't be a senator and he shouldn't be a doctor if he's going to go out there and attack this bill. a doctor who's against helping people that are sick. figure that out. >> that's john fielder, he runs an advocacy group for 9/11 heroes. on 9/11, he, john, joined the army of demolition workers who rushed to ground zero, clearing wreckage, trying to locate survivors and remains. on the 17 of september he lost his left foot when a steel beam crushed it. you no he, now he, like others did not qualify for the relief fund, some didn't qualify for workman's comp. others who got workman's comp can no longer afford the co-pays. the current bill is designed to make up for that but senator coburn objects to the way it's being funded and the way he claims his fellow lawmakers are trying to force it through. >> this bill hasn't even been through a committee. we haven't had the debate in our

committee on this bill to know if it is the best thing to do. we haven't had the testimony to know whether -- this is a bill that's been drawn up and forced through congress at the end of the year on a basis to solve a problem that we didn't have time to solve and we didn't get done. >> senator coburn there, dr. coburn on fox news, his office today putting out a list of objections to the bill. that was one of them, that it's a rush job. but keeping them honest, it didn't take much digging to find there were committee hearings on this issue. in fact, back in june. >> please come to order. i welcome everyone to this important hearing. nine years ago this september we all remember that day and we all remember exactly where we were and what we were doing when that happened. >> that's tom harkin, chairman of the senate committee on health education labor and pensions. that's called the h.e.l.p. committee. and if you go to senator coburn's own website, you'll see right there on the same page about senator coburn that among his committee assignments are, you guessed it, the h.e.l.p. committee. the thing is he missed the hearings.

a staffer said he had a scheduling conflict. and besides, the staffer said, there wasn't enough debate or changes made. and yes the latest version of the legislation has changed somewhat since those hearings, but mainly to trim the price tag and make other tweaks to seemingly accommodate republican concerns to try to win their support. we did try to get senator coburn to come on the program tonight. no luck. earlier today his spokesman put out the following statement. dr. coburn is continuing to work with the sponsors of the 9/11 bill to find a way to help those who need our aid without creating new burdens for other americans. statement goes on to say this, he's disappointed the majority waited until the last minute to try to pass this bill but hopes an agreement can be reached in some way. his spokesman john hart. sounds reasonable. but later in the day one of our producers called back and got a couple of comments we wanted to

share with you because they seem to differ in the spirit from that original statement. first of all, quote, senator coburn is still going to force an extended debate. in other words, even if democrats and republicans get the 60 votes needed tomorrow to move the bill forward, dr. coburn is still going to exercise his privilege. even if he's the only one doing it, to drag out the process. and remember this, the first part of that earlier statement about working with sponsors of the bill? judging from what his spokesman told our producer, senator coburn is willing to let this session of congress end without passing a bill at all. quote, the clock is not on their side right now. the clock is on our side. so is that simply a statement of political reality or an admission that running out the clock has always been the senator's strategy? you decide. senator coburn says he's standing on principle, even if he has to stand alone. and today new york senator chuck schumer acknowledged that senator coburn could do just that while at the same time practically begging him not to. >> i would plead with my colleague from oklahoma, tom coburn, he's a friend, he's a good man. he is very meticulous about legislation. please don't stop this bill. we all know what it is and what it stands for and we all know if it does not happen now, it is very unlikely to ever happen

again. >> that's senator schumer today trying diplomacy. earlier this year anthony weiner, a lot more blunt about all the political gameplaying surrounding the 9/11 bill. >> great courage can wait until all members have spoken then stand up and wrap your arms around procedure. we see it in the united states senate every single day where members say we want amendments, we want debate but we're still a no. then we say if only there was a different process, we'd vote yes. you vote yes if you believe yes. you vote in favor of something if you believe it's the right thing. if you believe it's the wrong thing you vote no. we are following a procedure -- i will not yield to the gentleman and the gentleman will observe regular order! the gentleman will observe regular order! >> not in order. >> if he gets up and yells, if he's going to intimidate people in believing he's right, he is wrong! the gentleman is wrong! the gentleman is providing cover for his colleagues rather than doing the right thing. it's republicans wrapping their arms around republicans, rather than doing the right thing on behalf of the heroes. it is a shame! a shame!

if you believe this is a bad idea to provide health care, then vote no, but don't give me the cowardly view that, oh, if it was a different procedure, the gentleman will observe regular order and sit down! i will not. the gentleman will sit. the gentleman is correct in sitting. i will not -- >> gentleman will suspend. >> i will not stand here. >> gentleman is recognized. >> and listen to my colleagues say, if only i had a different procedure that allows us to stall, stall, stall, and then vote no. instead of standing up and defending your colleagues and voting no on this humane bill, you should urge them to vote yes, something the gentleman has not done! >> wow. obviously a lot to talk about. we're going to try to keep the volume town ourselves as steve kornacki and dana loesch. ed der of big journalism and radio host. boy, some obviously impassioned discussion. dana will be joining us by phone. but one of the big things we keep hearing about is this is being rushed, it's sort of being dealt with at the 11th hour. is there some validity to those

arguments? >> well, it is sort of being rushed right now, but let's not forget that this bill actually came up a few weeks ago in the senate and this could have been dealt with at a time when there was more time for debate, to discuss and have all this procedure that coburn is talking about right now. the republicans all stood together and filibustered it a few weeks ago. the grounds that they provided at that time were, you know, we're not going to take action on any bit of legislation until we address the bush tax cuts. so they basically said this lame duck session, all of it, is subservient to the tax cuts. now a deal on tax cuts was reached and democrats began sort of ticking through the rest of the items they wanted to address, whether the repeal of don't ask, don't tell, the spending bill, the dream act, which went down over the weekend, and here you are now with a bill -- the stakes are

really high obviously. it's very important in terms of health care for these workers, but when you look at budgetary impact, the money actually involved, in the scope of the entire federal budget and the scope of all the money that's spent every year, this is now down to about $6 billion. so it's small in a way. the price tag is awfully small. so when you leave it to the last minute like this, a certain amount of the calculation is, it's a big impact but it's a small price tag. >> so maybe be able to get it through given the small price tag. dana, are you on the phone with us, dana? >> i am. >> dana, i think you heard most of what we were just talking about. what do you think overall senator coburn's strategy -- there have been changes to the bill, changes to the funding, changes to the price tag. it's not perfect as most bills aren't, but are those flaws worth killing it for? >> well, i think it's perfectly -- i think what coburn's doing

is he's being legitimate in his hesitancy, because there is not a single person to whom i have spoken, nor myself, concerning perspective on this, believe that this -- that the people who committed heroic act on 9/11 and that were there, our first responders, no one in their right mind believes that they shouldn't have help with dealing with what was the worst terrorist attack on our country's soil. but the thing is, is that even though it is the -- it's a great cause, it's the right cause, that doesn't mean -- and i think that the people who are going to be helped from this, they deserve a little bit more than having a piece of slipshod legislation thrown in. one of the concerns coburn has as well as a lot of other republicans, this remains unfunded. they have no idea how they're going to fund this. and my suggestion is let's find something to cut immediately so that, a, we can make sure these people get the help they deserve, and b, let's make sure

that the people who have been injured and are dealing with bad health issues and are dealing with bills, make sure that they can get funded and that what they're receiving doesn't get looted by people committing fraud. we saw such a precedence already go down this month with the passing of the second pickford settlement. because there's a ton of fraud in that. so i think those concerns are legitimate and no one's arguing that this shouldn't be done, they're just saying let's make sure these people get the help that they need and that it's done the right way. >> and, steve, i mean, obviously we are talking about health here. so waiting can be problematic. people are waiting right now. dana called it slipshod legislation. it's been through committee. is it something -- again, for the same question, is the perfect the enemy of the good here in terms of getting something done? >> on the issue of tom coburn and his motives, it's fair to say, he's been consistent in this regard. just about every piece of legislation that comes before the senate no matter how big or

small he does ask questions like this, he does talk about using his power to delay things so he's being consistent in that regard. but what i think is the most revealing thing on this is if you look outside of the senate, you have republican voices, you have conservative voices now like mike huckabee, rudy giuliani, a host on the fox news channel who is devoting a segment to this every night who have really embraced the idea of passing this bill as a real cause. this is not a left, right democrat, republican divide. a lot of democrats are upset that barack obama hasn't been front and center on that, and one of the reasons were the democrats in the senate were able to cut a deal with just about all the republicans to bring the price tag down to $6 billion. it was $7.5 billion to change the way it's funded. and the republicans basically said they're okay with it. >> and they support --

>> this really is down to tom coburn and maybe a couple sympathizers. >> do you think coburn is getting a lot of calls from his republican colleagues in the senate, you know, trying to persuade him? >> well, you know, i think he probably is at this point but probably also getting calls of support from people saying we understand what your strategy is in this, because there is nothing more dangerous i think with passing this legislation than passing something we have no idea where the money's coming from. there's several concerns that i think are really valid here. and i understand where giuliani and i understand where huckabee are both coming from as well. and i also understand that democrats were even struggling to get a lot of their own in line behind this piece of legislation. january 28th of this year that the president, he made a remark

to the new york delegation saying he wasn't exactly on board with the funding of this thing. so there was a lot of discussion on the left as well as a lot of discussion on the right. but the bottom line is there's -- i can think of at least six things we can cut right now and get this thing moving and get it passed and also make sure there are safeguards in place to make sure people who need help with health, need help with medical bills can get that without it being looted. >> any possibility of them coming back after christmas, steve, you think? >> the real question now is let's say this passed the senate tomorrow. there's a question, forget about after christmas, right now, if there will be enough people left on the house side in washington tomorrow who can even vote on it then. house leaders say they're ready to vote on it. they had a vote tonight, 80 people already left town. let's see where we stand tomorrow. >> thanks so much for joining us. i want to hear from you as well, what you think. join the live chat underway at ac360.com. up next the author of a guide for pedophiles speaking out. did he ever practice what he wrote? you'll hear his answer and the rest of his very, very explicit news conference. also tonight, a grandmother's quest to finally get justice in the death of her granddaughter. after the story that authorities initially told her just didn't add up. >> it just didn't make sense that she would fall and from that short fall that she would be in such critical condition.

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a keeping them honest update now on a story we've been following from the beginning when a book called "a pedophile's guide to love and pleasure" surfaced on amazon, we tried to get amazon so explain why it was selling it, even though they have a policy against selling pornography or what it calls extremely disturbing materials. tonight the author, phillip graves is in jail in florida. he was extradited from colorado to face obscenity charges after he allegedly sold a copy of his book to undercover deputies. before being processed he spoke to reporters. take a listen. >> have you ever practiced what

you write? >> no. >> what? >> have you ever practiced your writings? >> no. >> do you feel like you broke the law? >> i do not feel that way. >> last month you told a reporter you think it's okay to kiss, fondle, touch, lick children. that doesn't disturb you on any level? >> not really, if you consider the fact that uncles and aunts and grandmothers and grandparents do all those things all of the time except the fondling part. >> no, i don't have children and i don't keep children around my house. >> do you consider yourself a pedophile? >> no, i most certainly do not. i only have sex with grownups. >> do you think this is a trap? >> i think this is entrapment, absolutely, yes. >> have you ever touched a child inappropriately? >> inappropriately? i don't think so? >> have you ever touched a child period sexually? >> sexually, no. >> what conduct do you think is appropriate between adults and children?

>> these relationships? mostly just playing around, haining out, whatever the child tolerates is not my business. >> you say tolerates, what do you mean by that? >> welcomes. >> how do you know if they're welcoming it? >> children usually protest if they don't like something, unless they're afraid to. >> have you ever had a child protest to what you've done? >> never. >> what experience are you basing these comments on? >> like i said, my youthful grow up -- once i got into adolescence, i suppose you could have identified me as an adolescent pedophile. but since i stopped doing that, i'm also showing that people can reform. >> do you expect you're going to have to remain in jail while this case plays itself out? >> probably but i hope not. >> will you make bond? >> i cannot make bond. i'm actually quite poor. >> you don't believe that raping a child is acceptable correct? >> no. >> yet in your book you talk about fantasizing and using

children again in great detail that seems to be a great contradiction. >> that's not rape. that's fantasy. there's a difference. and it's essential to the reformation of pedophiles i think. >> those are just made-up stories? fiction? >> they're semi true. i've picked up little pieces here and there from the internet and put them together, then rewrote them to give what i thought was an accurate view of some people. >> but not of personal experiences? >> not of personal experiences, no. >> phillip greaves today, his book is no longer available online on amazon. in part i will tell you because "360" was out front on this story, trying to hold amazon accountable and others for selling it and similar material. we'll be following this story as it develops for sure, but keeping them honest, it's something our viewers demand of us on every story, they want to see accountability, they want to see actions. just like when we learned about a top michigan official pursuing a one man vendetta against chris armstrong, who happened to be gay.

here's the story from andrew shirvell, who was then assistant state attorney general. shirvell even went so far as to set up a website targeting armstrong with messages of hate. >> andrew, i want to go over some of the stuff that you have on your blog. there's a picture of chris armstrong with a nazi swastika on his face, another one with racist, elitist liar, you accuse him at one point of being satan's representative. i've got to ask you, you're a state official, this is a college student. what are you doing? >> well, anderson, basically if you've been involved in political campaigns before, you know all sorts of stuff happens and this is just another tactic, bringing awareness to what chris really stands for. >> this is not some national figure, this is a guy who's running a student council. >> well, anderson, as a private citizen and as a university of michigan alum i care because

this is my university. like i said, this is a political campaign. this is nothing personal against chris, i don't know -- >> what do you mean it's nothing personal? you're outside his house, you're videotaping his house, you're shouting him down at public events, you're calling him satan's representative on the student council, you're attacking his parents, his friends' parents, you can't say it's not personal. >> we're quibbling over tactics, not quibbling over substance. substance of the matter is, anderson, chris armstrong is a radical homosexual activist who got elected partly funded by the gay and lesbian victory fund to promote a very deeply radical agenda at the university of michigan and he wants to do that by -- >> his biggest issues were extending the hours at the cafeteria and lowering tuition as well as some gender housing issues. >> no, that's not correct. no, that's not correct, anderson. his biggest issue is gender neutral housing. what we're talking about is anybody, any man or woman wanting to choose to live

together. that's a radical redefinition of gender norm. >> it appears you're obsessed with this young gay man. i've read all your blog postings. you're perusing his facebook, his friends' facebook pages, you're making completely unwarranted accusations, unproven accusations based on what you're gleaning from his facebook pages. your boss put out a statement, while he recognizes your right to express opinions, your, quote, your immaturity and lack of judgment outside the office are clear. do you worry at all that your boss thinks you're immature and lack judgment? >> anderson, i agreed to do this interview by stating i wouldn't make any comments regarding my employment. >> we've received a ton of e-mail from people asking us why andrew shirvell still has a job as an assistant attorney general in your office. free speech is critical, but he appears to be targeting a college student. i know you've said this guy's views don't reflect your views or those of your office, but why is he still employed?

>> for a number of reasons. here in america we have this thing called the first amendment which allows people to express what they think, and engage in political and social speech. isn't he detracting from your agency? why would anyone feel he would be represented by this man as an attorney or frankly, they would start to have perhaps doubt about your office's ability to do that? >> i think that's quite a stretch. first and foremost, mr. shirvell, his job is to help preserve state criminal convictions when they're challenged in federal court. he does that well from 8:30 to 5:00 very well. him blogging, it's not impacting the mission of the office. >> why are you speaking out now? you've been silent for a long time and obviously you filed for an order of personal protection, that's still ongoing. maybe you're contemplating legal action, i'm not sure, but why speak out now?

>> i think as i kind of mentioned, it's really been a personal issue in a lot of ways. you know, i've dealt with it. given what's happened in the past week and given the suicides that have happened in the past weeks, it's been i think -- it's hard not to say something. >> that's really what's motivating you to speak out now, the suicides we've all been witnessing and reporting on. >> i think like honestly i didn't really ask to be put in this position in a lot of way. >> in just about all ways you didn't ask to be put in this position. >> but i felt that, like seeing these kids, you know, feel they needed to take their life. it's important to know things get better and it's important to know you can reach out in your community, you can reach out to friends and they can support you. >> we begin as always keeping them honest with the stunning development in one of the strangest stories we ever covered. today this man, andrew shirvell was fired from his job after months of leading a one-man crusade online and in person

against a college student. andrew shirvell was fired for conduct unbecoming a state employee. up next the latest on broadway's spider-man, an actor took a terrible fall last night. and later in crime and punishment, a very cold case finally solved ten years after a toddler's tragic death. now answers are finally found and justice is finally done. ♪

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just ahead, crime and punishment, how a persistent investigator finally got justice for a toddler years after her death. first, randi kaye joins with us the bulletin. >> new information tonight that the south korean army will hold its largest ever live fire drill on thursday in an area near north korea. the show of force comes in the wake of north korea's attack on one of south korea's islands last month. word that al qaeda considered trying to poison america's food supply, the plan would have targeted salad bars and buffets at hotels and restaurants. officials got word of the threat months ago but today downplayed its seriousness. however they did meet with industry officials to confirm that the food supply is safe. a brief bomb scare in rome, a package containing wires was found under a seat on a train but police say the device could not have exploded. no one has claimed responsibility for the incident. congress has passed a major new food safety bill. it's a response to the deadly outbreaks of foodborne

illnesses, giving the fda the direct power to recall food suspected of being contaminated. an actor in "spider-man" is hospitalized in serious condition tonight after falling more than 20 feet off a platform during last night's preview, there it is right there. bringing the performance to a halt. tonight's performance and tomorrow's matinee have been canceled. spider-man is broadway's most expensive musical ever and has been plagued by problems and cast injuries. >> scary. you see him being carted off, we hear he's still in serious condition. so certainly if we hear anything more we'll bring it to you. in crime and punishment tonight, justice for a toddler. i want to show you her picture. this is cassie, it will be ten years next month since she died. knows you need business on the go. with its powerful 1 gigahertz processor... ♪ da da da don't cha... ♪ its globetrotting wi-fi hotspotting swagger... it knows you want a rich web experience with adobe flash and access to over 100,000 android apps.

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in crime and punishment tonight, justice for a toddler. i want to show you her picture. this is cassie, it will be ten years next month since she died. i imagine it's a tough time of year for her family. cassie's mom left her with someone she trusted. while she was gone, cassie suffered a severe head injury. i can tell you as a doctor, but more importantly as a father of three young girls, this story really got to me. how cassie got those fatal head injuries remained a mystery for years. but to some in cassie's family, the facts didn't add up. turns out they were right. here's randi kaye. >> reporter: in the morning of january 18th, 2001, the only person at home with cassie was her mother's boyfriend, former marine, william veach. just before 10:00 a.m., veach called 911. by the time paramedics arrived, cassie, just 17 months, was unconscious. doctors described her brain as jell-o. there was severe hemorrhaging, lots of blood. doctors immediately suspected shaken baby syndrome. but when police questioned

veach, seen here in this interrogation video, he denied harming the toddler. veach told police cassie was in her highchair eating cheerios when he turned his back to answer the phone he said he heard a thud. >> just two thumps on the first one i can only assume was the kitchen table. >> reporter: veach said cassie fell out of her highchair but cassie's highchair was just 30 inches from the ground. just 2 1/2 feet. >> it just didn't make sense that she would fall and from that short fall that she would be in such critical condition. >> reporter: doctors couldn't save her. 15 days after she was rushed to the hospital, the little girl with the sparkling blue eyes and blond pigtails was dead. the medical examiner ruled cassie had died of blunt force head injuries but couldn't say for sure how it happened or if a crime had been committed. so prosecutors in yuma county,

arizona, chose not to charge veach because of lack of evidence. the file on cassie was officially closed in 2003. veach was a free man. fast forward a few years to february 2006 when cassie's case landed on the desk of julie haney, a cold case investigator for ncis, the naval criminal investigative service. because veach was a marine, a case file had been created years earlier. >> common sense and 24 years of doing this told me it didn't add up. >> reporter: haney started to piece together what happened. for inspiration, she posted this picture at her desk. >> it just reminds me of what -- why i'm here. what -- who i'm working for. >> reporter: julie haney turned the case file inside out, starting with veach's interrogation video.

>> watching his video i got the sense that those were crocodile tears. those were not for cassie, those were for him. >> reporter: the biggest problem with the case was the early diagnosis of shaken baby syndrome. from day one she said that threw the case off course. her own investigation found cassie hadn't been shaken at all. she'd been slammed. >> i think william lost control and in a moment of rage he killed cassie. he struck her with some very hard object, or took her and used her as some kind of a weapon and struck her into a very hard object like the corner of my desk here or a wall, something very, very hard. because it bashed that right side of her brain in. >> reporter: haney had the x-rays and autopsy slides re-examined at the armed forces of pathology in washington, d.c., where military pathologists caught something doctors missed all those years ago. >> the trauma was limited to the

right side of her head. if you're shaken you have trauma to your whole brain. you don't have trauma only on one side. so they had the wrong theory of what happened the whole time. >> reporter: haney's new evidence convinced the attorney general to prosecute veach. on january 17th, 2008, almost seven years from the day cassie was injured, veach was charged with first-degree murder and child abuse. he maintained his innocence but when the state offered him a deal to plead guilty to a lesser charge, he jumped on it and pleaded guilty to manslaughter. >> i should have taken care -- i should have taken better care of you that day. >> reporter: veach never shared the details of how cassie died. in court he left her family and julie haney waiting for a confession they would never hear. the judge sentenced him to ten years. from prison, veach told us by phone the case was a witch hunt. he insisted he never harmed cassie. >> i did not do anything wrong.

i did not hurt that little girl. i never put my hands on her. and they never could prove that i did. >> reporter: after veach was sentenced, cassie's grandmother went to her grave with a message. >> i told cassie when we got back that we'd finally put him away, and not to be afraid anymore. >> reporter: cassie would have turned 11 this year. julie haney still looks at her picture. she'll never forget the little girl, who after so many years, finally got justice. >> such a cute little girl, randi. tough story to hear. so he got ten years in prison. he pleaded to this lesser charge, thought he could get between three and 12 1/2 years. they gave him almost the maximum amount. was he surprised by that? >> he was. he told us by phone he was shocked because he thought pleading to the lesser charge to manslaughter, he only admitted thoughtlessness, never actually admitted harming cassie or killing cassie but he thought he would get closer to the three

years, but he got the ten years. he also told us by phone he thought this was a witch hunt. he said this was just another notch in the belt for julie haney, the investigator. he thought it was all about ego, that she tampered with evidence. she of course told us she didn't. one thing we did ask him was to tell us what happened that day. again, that morning. and he told us the same story, that he's been telling everyone for ten years, that she was in her highchair eating her cheerios, he went to get the phone and he heard a thud. >> you'd think that sometimes being able to diagnose this level of head injury and what caused it would be easier, but sometimes it can be challenging. sounds like it was here. >> it was because initially they thought it was shaken baby and because this investigator had federal dollars and military experts at her disposal, she was able to have them look at the slides again at the autopsy and they realized they put it together that the injury was just on one side, these military pathologists said the injury was just on one side of the brain, which told them of course that it wasn't shaken baby and then she took that to the attorney general again.

>> significant blow to the head. at least justice served many, many years later. thanks so much for that report. >> the volcano that no one could pronounce that caused flights worldwide to be grounded and some of the other top stories from 2010, part of the all the best and all the worst series ahead. and julian assange has been making news this year, too, but what he's done to end up as the latest addition to our ridiculist, we'll tell you. you l twice a year, every year you don't have an accident. the safe driving bonus® check. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. has the biggest hotel thedeals we're offering theck. big deal guarantee. book a hotel with name your own price and if you can find a lower published price anywhere else we'll match it and pay you $25. book now and save up to 60% on hotels. only at priceline. i'd get this tightness in my chest. so i went back to my doctor again. we chose symbicort to help control my asthma symptoms

all day and night. [ man ] symbicort improves my lung function, starting within 15 minutes. symbicort will not replace a rescue inhaler for sudden symptoms. it is a combination of two medicines and should not be taken more often than prescribed. symbicort contains formoterol. medicines like formoterol increase the risk of death from asthma problems, and children and adolescents may have an increased risk of being hospitalized for asthma problems. symbicort is not for people whose asthma is well controlled with a long-term asthma control medicine like inhaled corticosteroids. once your asthma is well controlled, your doctor will decide if you can stop symbicort without loss of control, and prescribe a long-term asthma control medicine. be sure to see your doctor if your asthma does not improve or gets worse. symbicort is a good choice to help control my asthma all day and night. [ inhales ] [ exhales ] ask your doctor if symbicort is a good choice for you. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help.

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in ten days we're going to bid good-bye to 2010, so tonight we want to look at some of the stories that defined the year. in april, a volcano sent tons of ash into the sky but the winds in northern europe pushed that ash down to the rest of the continent, forcing are the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights and also stranding countless passengers. midmarch president obama signed the health care bill into law. despite pretty fierce opposition from republicans. in september, lady gaga outdid herself at the mtv music awards sporting her meat dress. she won video of the year for bad romance. no one can forget the impact in the midterm elections, especially congressman john boehner, he'll become speaker of the house when republicans take over the chamber in january. and a royal wedding is in the works. last month prince william announced his engagement to kate middleton. those are some of the big stories but not the biggest. tom foreman looks back at all the best and worst of 2010. it's our year-end special.

here's a glimpse of it. >> reporter: the world of big news gave us the best real reality show of the year. the nearly 2 1/2-month saga of the trapped chilean miners. >> i love that story. who knew the chilean miners were so hot? >> america, we need to learn from these guys. these guys are motivators. >> the chilean miner story was hands down the best story of the year. >> somebody compared it to the moon launch and it really was kind of like that. >> reporter: their journey to and from the underworld was riveting. their story, inspiring. their return to the land of the living, full of happy endings, even hollywood can't top. >> i was utterly shocked that everything worked out. and by the way, they had a live feed via fiber optic cable from down in the mine? what the hell was that? >> was that unbelievable? oh, my gosh. i was stunned. chile. go chile. >> then they come out alive and only to be greeted by wives, and mistresses.

>> some of them probably wanted to go back in the ground once their wives got ahold of them. i'm so happy you're alive but now i've got to meet her, what the heck? >> reporter: best use of his time underground, edison pena who worked out in the cramped quarters beneath the earth, then came out to run in the new york city marathon. >> this guy, how much training could you have done? >> as if he hadn't overcome enough human struggles and demonstrated the power of the human spirit enough by surviving all those weeks underground, i thought that was a really, really beautiful thing. >> reporter: worst winter weather. the blizzards that had folks in the washington, d.c., area running for cover faster than a sex scandal. 40 inches of snow, no flights, no open roads, no power for hundreds of thousands. good times. >> the snowstorm was insane. >> the newspapers had a really fun time trying to name the blizzard. snowpocalypse.

>> i never actually lived in a place that had so much snow before. that was a new experience for me because i'm a southern girl. >> really? i have absolutely no memory of any snow this year whatsoever. >> reporter: no wonder. he was in haiti for the worst big story of the year. the earthquake that left nearly a quarter million people dead, a million homeless and countless sorrows. >> every reporter i know who was down there and every cameraman, producer who spent time in iraq and afghanistan, they all, i think we all agree haiti was the worst thing any of us have ever seen. >> haiti, earthquakes, cholera, mudslides, it make the book of revelations look like "good night moon." >> haiti had so many challenges before the earthquake hit. >> reporter: the snail's pace of relief that trickled in all year, despite worldwide promises of quick and steady aid. >> it's not just a bad news

story, it's a bad policy story on top of a bad news story. >> there's got to be a better way to provide longer term aid to places like haiti. >> reporter: worst domestic story, give it to the gulf. the explosion that took 11 lives and produced the oil spill that just kept on spilling. >> the gulf oil spill was quite possibly one of the most depressing events certainly of my lifetime. watching this oil on a live feed just gush and gush and gush. >> and nothing was working and it was gushing and gushing and gushing. it was shocking that we couldn't plug a hole. >> the gulf oil spill was one of those reminders that decisions have consequences. >> i don't think people who weren't there, not on the ground, really realize how it was like the keystone cops bumbling down around there on the coastline. >> clearly we should have called chile in. we just didn't realize it.

>> reporter: worst math, bp's original estimate that only 1,000 barrels a day were going into the water. >> meanwhile independent scientists who look at it for a few hours and say there's 70,000 barrels of oil pouring out of that thing. >> it was sort of like the iran hostage situation. we couldn't do anything about it and it made us feel impotent. it made us feel captive. >> and, of course, you have this big rich company that's still doing extremely well. ceos who appear not to kind of get what's going on, the government fails to respond. >> reporter: worst initial response, the official one from bp and the white house, too. >> and to say that we have been involved from day one, i mean, what was the involvement? >> it was sort of the perfect here's what's wrong with everything these days, and it just kind of leaves you exhausted. >> and finally it's capped, and who's talking about it anymore? as if there's no problem? economically, ecologically, environmentally in that area?

>> you can see much more of tom foreman's "all the best, all the worst of 2010" as part of cnn's new year's eve coverage. anderson and kathy griffin are together again this year for new year's eve live counting down to 2011. up next, julian assange has caused quite a stir with making private information public but it's what he doesn't want the public to know that's putting him on our ridiculist. home a vn for just your signature. really? that's great. yeah. plus, it includes scheduled carefree maintenance. huh. light's green. there you go. oh, you need a pen. i had one here just a second ago. who would take my pen?? [ male announcer ] it's amazing what you can do with a pen. sign then drive is back. for a limited time get any 2011 volkswagen for practically just your signature. but i knew that i was going to need a day job. we actually have a lot of scientists that play music.

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still ahead, the irony of it now to add another name to the ridiculist. >> julian assange set the bar for leaking classified information. forget deep throat, this guy is like the grand canyon. wikileaks gushes secrets. remember the rogue wave in the movie "perfect storm?" now, that's assange's style. >> wikileaks has set off perfect storms across the globe by releasing tidal waves of secrets.

that's no why he's on the list. he's on it because while he can clearly dish it out he apparently can't take it. he's furious at the british newspaper "the guardian" for publishing what he claims was leaked information about him. that's right. the founder of the website whose sole mission is to publish leaks is furious about an alleged leak. assange claims "the guardian" revealed confidential information about rape accusations against him in sweden. now, we already know that this is a touchy subject for assange. when cnn's atika shubert asked him about those allegations in a recent interview, he walked out. the interview was over. okay. fine. look. we get it. you don't want to talk about the possible criminal charges against you, maybe your lawyers said not to, makes sense. but crying foul over an alleged leak when you are in the business of leaking other people's secrets? seems like you're asking for

some grief. kind of like when the detroit auto executives testified before congress when they were begging for those bailouts. they were crying poverty publicly but then it came out they'd flown in on their private jets. that didn't square so well in the court of public opinion. and mr. assange, neither does your selective endorsement of leaks. it's pretty basic. if you're going to be a champion of leaks, the rogue wave of transparency, you should prepare to get some water thrown on you every once in a while. and it might feel a lot like being in the perfect storm. or to put it another way, remember farcus, the neighborhood bully in "a christmas story?" he was great at tormenting his victims. >> what, are you going to cry now? come on. cry baby, cry for me. come on, cry.